"The Merry Widow (1934 film) The Merry Widow is a 1934 film adaptation of the operetta of the same name by Franz Lehár. It was directed and produced by Ernst Lubitsch and starred Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. A French-language version was produced at the same time and released in France the same year as La Veuve joyeuse. Playboy Captain Danilo (Maurice Chevalier) is ordered by King Achmet of Marshovia (George Barbier) to court and marry Madame Sonia (Jeanette MacDonald), a rich widow who owns a large portion of the kingdom. Cedric Gibbons and Fredric Hope won the Academy Award"
"Basil Hood Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ""The Merry Widow"". He embarked on a career in the British Army, rising to the rank of captain, while writing theatrical pieces in his spare time. After some modest success, Hood and his collaborator, the composer Walter Slaughter, had a major hit with their long-running show, ""Gentleman Joe"", in 1895. Another long-running success was ""The French Maid"" (1896). Hood then"
"Franz Lehár Franz Lehár (; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ""The Merry Widow"" (""Die lustige Witwe""). Lehár was born in the northern part of Komárom, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary (now Komárno, Slovakia), the eldest son of Franz Lehár (senior) (1838–1898), an Austrian bandmaster in the Infantry Regiment No. 50 of the Austro-Hungarian Army and Christine Neubrandt (1849–1906), a Hungarian woman from a family of German descent. He grew up speaking only Hungarian until the age of 12. Later"
"The Merry Wives of Windsor (opera) The Merry Wives of Windsor (in German: Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor) is an opera in three acts by Otto Nicolai to a German libretto by Salomon Hermann Mosenthal based on the play ""The Merry Wives of Windsor"" by William Shakespeare. The opera is a ""Singspiel"", containing much spoken dialogue between distinct musical numbers. The opera remains popular in Germany, and the overture is sometimes heard in concert in other countries. Otto Nicolai composed the music from 1845 to 1849. He had previously achieved great success with a few Italian operas, but this opera"
"a cameo role), and ""Comradeship"" (1919). Lily Elsie Lily Elsie (born Elsie Hodder; 8 April 1886 – 16 December 1962) was an English actress and singer during the Edwardian era. She was best known for her starring role in the London premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta ""The Merry Widow"". Beginning as a child star in the 1890s, Elsie built her reputation in several successful Edwardian musical comedies before her great success in ""The Merry Widow"", opening in 1907. Afterwards, she starred in several more successful operettas and musicals, including ""The Dollar Princess"" (1909), ""A Waltz Dream"" (1911) and ""The Count"
"Viktor Léon Victor Léon, also Viktor Léon (born Victor Hirschfeld; 4 January 1858, Szenic, Nyitra County, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (today Senica, Slovakia) – 3 February 1940, Vienna) was a well-known Jewish Austrian-Hungarian librettist. He collaborated with Leo Stein to produce the libretto of Franz Lehár's romantic operetta ""The Merry Widow"" (""Die lustige Witwe""). Hirschfeld began a career as a journalist, and then branched out in the theatre under the pseudonym that was to become familiar - Viktor Léon. Between 1880 and 1884 he wrote one-act libretti for Vienna's variety theatre, the Carl-Schultze-Theater in Hamburg, and the German Theatre"
"Lily Elsie Lily Elsie (born Elsie Hodder; 8 April 1886 – 16 December 1962) was an English actress and singer during the Edwardian era. She was best known for her starring role in the London premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta ""The Merry Widow"". Beginning as a child star in the 1890s, Elsie built her reputation in several successful Edwardian musical comedies before her great success in ""The Merry Widow"", opening in 1907. Afterwards, she starred in several more successful operettas and musicals, including ""The Dollar Princess"" (1909), ""A Waltz Dream"" (1911) and ""The Count of Luxembourg"" (1911). Admired for her"
"successful himself, his career brought him in contact with the biggest stars of Viennese opera during his time. Léon's property was confiscated after Austria's annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938. He died of starvation while in hiding in 1940 at the age of 82. Viktor Léon Victor Léon, also Viktor Léon (born Victor Hirschfeld; 4 January 1858, Szenic, Nyitra County, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (today Senica, Slovakia) – 3 February 1940, Vienna) was a well-known Jewish Austrian-Hungarian librettist. He collaborated with Leo Stein to produce the libretto of Franz Lehár's romantic operetta ""The Merry Widow"" (""Die lustige Witwe""). Hirschfeld"
"Music"", but Alan Blyth in his ""Opera on CD"" regrets the casting of a baritone as Danilo in both sets and prefers the 1958 Decca version. Among the filmed productions on DVD, the Penguin Guide recommends the one from the San Francisco Opera, recorded live in 2001, conducted by Erich Kunzel and directed by Lotfi Mansouri, with Yvonne Kenny as Hanna and Bo Skovhus as Danilo. The recordings listed below are sung in German unless otherwise noted. Notes Sources The Merry Widow discography This is a discography of ""The Merry Widow"" (German: ""Die lustige Witwe""), an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian"
"Frederick Loewe Frederick Loewe (, originally German ""Friedrich (Fritz) Löwe"" ; June 10, 1901 – February 14, 1988), was an Austrian-American composer. He collaborated with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner on a series of Broadway musicals, including ""My Fair Lady"" and ""Camelot"", both of which were made into films. Loewe was born in Berlin, Germany, to Viennese parents Edmond and Rosa Loewe. His father was a noted Jewish operetta star who performed throughout Europe and in North and South America; he starred as Count Danilo in the 1906 Berlin production of ""The Merry Widow"". Loewe grew up in Berlin and attended"
"Doris Armine Ashworth; she died about 1958. Hood died suddenly in his flat in St. James's Street, London, at the age of 53, from the effects of overwork and neglecting to eat. After his death, his children's book, ""Saint George of England"", was published in 1919 by George G. Harrap & Co., London. Basil Hood Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ""The Merry Widow"". He embarked on a"
"Otto Nicolai Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (9 June 1810 – 11 May 1849) was a German composer, conductor, and one of the founders of the Vienna Philharmonic. Nicolai is best known for his operatic version of Shakespeare's comedy ""The Merry Wives of Windsor"" as """". In addition to five operas, Nicolai composed lieder, works for orchestra, chorus, ensemble, and solo instruments. Nicolai, a child prodigy, was born in Königsberg, Prussia. He received his first musical education from his father, Carl Ernst Daniel Nicolai, who was also a composer and musical director. During his childhood his parents divorced, and while still"
"(""The Merry Widow""), Jules Massenet (""Thais""), Carl Orff (""Carmina Burana""), Amilcare Ponchielli (""La Gioconda""), Maurice Ravel (""Bolero""), Johann Strauss II (""Die Fledermaus""), Richard Strauss (""Salome""), Franz von Suppe (""The Beautiful Galatea""), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (""Romeo and Juliet"", ""The Nutcracker""), Ambroise Thomas (""Mignon""), and Giuseppe Verdi (""Aida"", ""La Forza del Destino"", ""Il Trovatore"", ""La Traviata""). She is the subject of two award-winning documentaries: Ruth Page: An American Original (Otter Productions) and Ruth Page: Once Upon a Dancer (Thea Flaum Productions). The Ruth Page legacy lives on in several major archives including the Dance Division at Lincoln Center, the Ann Barzel Dance"
"Louis F. Gottschalk Louis Ferdinand Gottschalk (October 7, 1864 – July 15, 1934) was an American composer and conductor born in St. Louis, Missouri. The son of a Missouri governor, also named Louis, he studied music in Stuttgart, Germany, where his father, a judge, was American consul. Louis Moreau Gottschalk was his great-uncle. He came to attention as conductor of the U.S. premiere of Franz Lehár's ""The Merry Widow"". He was a pioneer of original film music, largely due to his work with independent filmmaker L. Frank Baum, for whom he composed the musical, ""The Tik-Tok Man of Oz"", to"
"the age of 70. Louis F. Gottschalk Louis Ferdinand Gottschalk (October 7, 1864 – July 15, 1934) was an American composer and conductor born in St. Louis, Missouri. The son of a Missouri governor, also named Louis, he studied music in Stuttgart, Germany, where his father, a judge, was American consul. Louis Moreau Gottschalk was his great-uncle. He came to attention as conductor of the U.S. premiere of Franz Lehár's ""The Merry Widow"". He was a pioneer of original film music, largely due to his work with independent filmmaker L. Frank Baum, for whom he composed the musical, ""The Tik-Tok"
"a cast featuring Sterling Holloway, Frank Atkinson, Leonard Sillman and his sister June Carroll. In the fall of 1932, Hecht worked on another theater play, a revised and modernized version of Franz Lehár's operetta, ""The Merry Widow"". The play was brought up to date by J. Keirn Brennan with dance numbers by Hecht and vocal numbers by H. L. Heidecker. Karl Hajos composed and conducted the 30-piece orchestra and the cast included Herbert Evans, Ruth Gillette, Alex Callam, Florinne McKinney, Franklin Record, Roland Woodruff, Diane Warfield, Paul Sauter, Rolloe Dix, William Jeffries, Harold Reeves and Evelyn Cunningham. The play opened"
"1986 Fowles was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her services to music. Her 1978 recording, for EMI, of Valencienne in ""The Merry Widow"" (excerpts, in English translation), with Sills, Alan Titus, and Henry Price, conducted by Julius Rudel, won a Grammy Award. ""Live From The Sydney Opera House"", in which she appears as Mimì in ""La bohème"", won an Emmy Award. She was an adjudicator for the 2004 Mathy Awards. Glenys Fowles Glenys Rae Fowles AM (born 4 November 1941; some sources say 1946) is an Australian operatic soprano who sang with Opera Australia and"
"New York, aged 73. Donald Brian Donald Brian (February 17, 1877 – December 22, 1948) was an actor, dancer and singer born in St. John's, Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada). In 1907, he starred in the hit operetta ""The Merry Widow"". Brian, a tenor, was employed in a Boston machine shop and, at the age of 16, began performing with a vocal quartet. When he joined a theatrical troupe in New York City, he was soon in demand as a leading man. He had leading roles in more than 20 Broadway musicals. In 1915 Brian signed with film producer"
"(Allen&Unwin), ""The Vision Splendid"" and ""All That Brothers Should Be"" (Beaver Press). His Paris journal was published by Halstead Press in ""Paris Studio"". He has also worked as librettist, including collaborations on ""Satango"" with Stewart D'Arrietta, ""Ripper"" with Thos Hodgson]]/[[Ensemble Rep Studio, ""Crystal Balls"" (Sadler's Wells/Compact Opera) and ""Tess of the D'Urbervilles"", with Stephen Edwards/Thor Productions, which toured Britain before it was staged at The [[Savoy Theatre]] in London's [[West End theatre|West End]]. [[Opera Australia]] commissioned him to write a new English libretto for ""[[The Merry Widow]]"". [[Category:1953 births]] [[Category:Australian dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:Australian opera librettists]] [[Category:Operetta librettists]] [[Category:Living people]]"
"Trap Opera and became a participant member of the ""British Players"", a theatrical group based near Washington. He died on 2 January 2010 at his home in Virginia, USA. John Rhys Evans John Rhys Evans (5 September 1930 – 2 January 2010) was a Welsh baritone noted for operatic roles including the leading man in the Merry Widow, the King in ""The Vagabond King"", Count Almaviva in ""The Marriage of Figaro""; Don Carlos in ""Ernani"", and leading roles in ""L'elisir d'amore"", ""Madame Butterfly"", ""I Pagliacci"", ""La Boheme"", ""The Gypsy Baron"", ""Carmen"", ""Die Fledermaus"" and ""Don Giovanni"". He sang more than"
"Brussels, where he was made chief conductor at the Théâtre de la Monnaie and saw instant success with his ballet ""Ispahan"" and several tunes. His wife, Suzy Delsart, was an operetta star (operette divette) and sang the title role of ""The Merry Widow"" by Franz Lehár and also influenced her husband into writing lighter and more popular tunes. In 1907 he completed the music for Marcel Gerbidon's operetta,""Flossie"" or ""Je m'appelle Flossie."" In 1908 he adapted Pierre Veber's comedy ""Loute"", then in 1914 began the musical comedy ""Flup !"" to a libretto by Gaston Dumestre, which had a successful premiere"
"John Rhys Evans John Rhys Evans (5 September 1930 – 2 January 2010) was a Welsh baritone noted for operatic roles including the leading man in the Merry Widow, the King in ""The Vagabond King"", Count Almaviva in ""The Marriage of Figaro""; Don Carlos in ""Ernani"", and leading roles in ""L'elisir d'amore"", ""Madame Butterfly"", ""I Pagliacci"", ""La Boheme"", ""The Gypsy Baron"", ""Carmen"", ""Die Fledermaus"" and ""Don Giovanni"". He sang more than 40 different roles in the course of his career, which lasted from his first public appearance in 1953 to 1994. He sang as a soloist at the Investiture of"
"by Lewis Carroll with music by Nino Rota. The latter he reworked in 2007 for Staatsballett Berlin under the title ""Alice's Wonderland"" He also worked out the choreographies for the operetta productions of the Wiener Volksoper during that time. Over the years he collaborated several times with director Helmuth Lohner. His staging of the operetta ""The Merry Widow"" at Zurich Opera 1997, to which Madia had contributed the choreography, was revived in 2004. In 2002 Madia was appointed chief choreographer of the Open Air Operetta Festival Seefestspiele Mörbisch near Vienna and filled this function until 2012. He also took over"
"Notable successes for Lanchbery included the arrangement of the Liszt music for Kenneth MacMillan's stormy multi-act Mayerling, which premiered at Covent Garden in 1978, and the arrangement of the Franz Lehár score for the first full-length ballet production of The Merry Widow for the Australian Ballet in 1976. In 1970 he arranged the score for the ballet film ""The Tales of Beatrix Potter"". His sources were many and varied, including the operas of Michael William Balfe and Arthur Sullivan. He also arranged the music and conducted the orchestra for ""Nijinsky"" in 1980. Lanchbery was the first to convert operas into"
"operetta, there is no fighting or bloodshed in the 'war'. Johann Strauss: Der lustige Krieg, ORF Radio-Symphonie Orchester, Wiener Jeunesse-Chor, Wiener Motettenchor Der lustige Krieg Der lustige Krieg (""The Merry War"") is a three-act operetta composed by Johann Strauss II. The work was first performed on 25 November 1881 at the Theater an der Wien. Its libretto was by F Zell (Camillo Walzel) and Richard Genée. The operetta was well received at its premiere, and was performed 69 times during its first run. It concerns a dispute between two states. The 'war' between them is played out as a game"
"Mizzi Günther Mizzi Günther (8 February 1879 – 18 March 1961) was a Bohemian-Viennese operetta soprano. Günther was born in Warnsdorf, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). Her debut was in 1897 in Hermannstadt, now Sibiu, in Romania. She achieved stardom in Vienna in 1901 as O Mimosa San in ""The Geisha"". She subsequently sang in England, France and Russia. She created the title roles of Franz Lehár's ""The Merry Widow"" in 1905 and Leo Fall's ""Die Dollarprinzessin"" (1907), also appearing in the premieres of Fall's """" (1908) and Emmerich Kálmán's ""Der kleine König"" (1912). She died in Vienna, Austria, and"
"(BWV 248) at the Bethlehem Bach Festival, and his ""St John Passion"" (BWV 245) with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with the New York City Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony and Boston Baroque and teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, California State University East Bay, and privately in San Leandro, California. Christine Abraham Christine Abraham is an American mezzo-soprano. Notable roles include Valencienne in ""The Merry Widow"" with Utah Opera, Despina in ""Così fan tutte"" with the Toledo Opera, Blanche in ""Dialogues of the Carmelites"" with the Palm Beach Opera and Susanna in"
"Merry Mount (opera) Merry Mount is an opera in three acts by American composer Howard Hanson; its libretto, by Richard Stokes, is loosely based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story ""The May-Pole of Merry Mount"", taken from his ""Twice Told Tales"". Hanson's only opera, it was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The opera received its world premiere in concert at the fortieth annual May Festival of the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, Michigan (at Hill Auditorium), on May 20, 1933, with the composer conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The cast included Leonora Corona, Rose Bampton, Frederick"
"Adrian Ross who had previously adapted ""The Merry Widow"" for English audiences. The Hood and Ross version premiered in London on 20 May 1911 with Lehár conducting and King George V and Queen Mary in the audience. It was followed by a Broadway production in 1912. Hood and Ross had made significant alterations to the original libretto and reduced the work from three acts to two with Lehár adjusting the score accordingly. However, in 1983, the New Sadler's Wells Opera (which closed in 1989) performed the work in a new translation of the libretto by Nigel Douglas with song texts"
"Der lustige Krieg Der lustige Krieg (""The Merry War"") is a three-act operetta composed by Johann Strauss II. The work was first performed on 25 November 1881 at the Theater an der Wien. Its libretto was by F Zell (Camillo Walzel) and Richard Genée. The operetta was well received at its premiere, and was performed 69 times during its first run. It concerns a dispute between two states. The 'war' between them is played out as a game of love between Colonel Umberto Spinola, the commander-in-chief of the Genoese army, and the widowed Countess Violetta. Despite the name of the"
"married Geneviève Sardou, the daughter of Victorien Sardou. He continued to be active writing librettos. His third opera libretto, ""Les travaux d'Hercule"" (1901), marked his first collaboration with fellow playwright Gaston Arman de Caillavet and composer Claude Terrasse. Most of his remaining librettos were written with Caillavet, often for Terrasse who was their most frequent musical collaborator. Other composers for which the two men wrote librettos include André Messager, and Gabriel Pierné. The two men also wrote a French translation of Franz Lehár's ""The Merry Widow"" in 1905 which was used throughout France during the first half of the 20th"
"in the 1890s, operettas returned to London and Broadway in 1907 with ""The Merry Widow"", and operettas and musicals became direct competitors for a time. In the early years of the 20th century, English-language adaptations of 19th century continental operettas, as well as operettas by a new generation of European composers, such as Franz Lehár and Oscar Straus, among others, spread throughout the English-speaking world. In America, Victor Herbert produced a string of famous operettas (""The Fortune Teller"" (1898), ""Babes in Toyland"" (1903), ""Mlle. Modiste"" (1905), ""The Red Mill"" (1906) and ""Naughty Marietta"" (1910)), often with librettist Harry B. Smith,"
"commercial success. In its English adaptation by Basil Hood, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, ""The Merry Widow"" became a sensation at Daly's Theatre in London, opening on 8 June 1907, starring Lily Elsie and Joseph Coyne and featuring George Graves as the Baron, Robert Evett as Camille and W. H. Berry as Nisch, with costumes by Lucile and Percy Anderson. Gabrielle Ray was a replacement as the Maxim's dancer Frou-Frou. It was produced by George Edwardes. The production ran for an extraordinary 778 performances in London and toured extensively in Great Britain. The adaptation renamed many of the characters, to"